January ~ January started our year off, but not with a bang....more like a quiet sigh as we packed up our decorations and got back to a routine. Anna and Rachel participated in the "Read to a Pet" program at the library. I'm sure at some point, I saw Twilight in the theater.....haha!
February ~ I haven't spent so many hours at the piano in a long time, and I was also incredibly nervous, but had a lot of fun accompanying the entire 3rd grade from Lee Elementary in their Oregon 150th Birthday Celebration. Anna sang a solo and sounded beautiful!
March ~ We spent spring break 2009 taking a vacation in Northern Cali.....stopping at Yosemite National Park which is one of the most breathtaking places you'll ever see. We also spent a day in San Francisco and enjoyed using Jay's parent's Worldmark membership in Angel's Camp, California. The facitilies at these places are amazing! Rachel performed in a Destination Imagination tournament and did fabulous! Jay and I also saw Wicked with my parents and loved it as much a second time. Katie celebrated her 17th birthday.
April ~ This month was all about Twilight! The Twilight movie tour was simply one of the most fun trips I've ever been on! Jay celebrated the big 4-0 in style and I celebrated my 39th. Rachel also sang her first solo at a school concert and did a fabulous job! On my birthday, I had the pleasure of having my friends accompany me for a pedi and then for a literal gorging at French Press.
May ~ In May, we discovered and watched in a whirlwind viewing, seasons 1 and 2 of Burn Notice, finishing just in time to begin season 3. Thanks for the suggestion girls! We spent Memorial Day in Yakima, visiting with Jay's family and are thankful that Jay's dad's heart surgery was successful! I attended the Oregon Zoo with Rachel on her 2nd grade field trip and had fun being there with her. We camped in the Redwoods with the Petersons and had a great time, except for the visit to the ER. What a beautiful National park!
June ~ I cropped at the now sadly closed Scrapbook Fever with Stephanie, enjoyed a fun Nacho Libre themed birthday party at the Warners, attended Girls Camp for Katie's last year as a youth, the little girls started swim team, Jay and I went go-karting with Laura and Larry and Katie and I spent a mom/daughter afternoon getting a pedicure.
July ~ July started off, literally with a bang, of fireworks that is. Rachel celebrated her 8th birthday and baptism. We are so proud of her! Summer swim team finals were held at Turner pool and Anna did excellent! Jay and I attended the midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince with friends and loved it! The little girls, Tyler and I went to the Oregon Zoo with my parents and had a fun day. Anna and Rachel were thrilled when Grandpa bought them tiger sunvisors. Our family also spent 5 days at the coast and had so much fun, especially on our whale watching tour! Anna and Rachel attended Activity Girl Day camp at the Stake Center. Tyler spent a week at the coast with a youth group surfing, kayaking and hiking.
August ~ As summer started to wind down, we started getting ready for back to school. I volunteered one morning at South to sell sweatshirts with the for the Saxon booster club. The little girls helped me and were thrilled when one teacher presented them with Saxon lanyards, towels, headbands and pencils. I watched my beautiful daughter have her Senior pictures taken by Laura. I didn't feel as though I was watching my little girl, but rather a gorgeous and poised young woman. Jay and I attended a Rick Springfield concert at Grand Ronde and had a lot of fun! We got to watch Katie play in a doubles tennis tourney at Willamette. She and her partner played great and even though they lost, they had a lot of fun!
September ~ School began this month. I enjoyed the quiet for the first few weeks, but also missed having my kids around too. Tyler celebrated his 15th birthday. We went on a 24 whirlwind trip up to Yakima, WA to send off our nephew to his mission in Russia. Good luck Justen!! I also had a fabulous trip to Forks, WA with Laura, Steph and Sarah. I want to go back ~ it is beautiful country up there! I'd love to see the Hoh rainforest in the spring! Hey ~ it's not obsessed to celebrate the birthday of a fictional character!!! We also enjoyed Saxon JV football, especially watching left tackle #53!
October ~ This month included the traditional visit to Bauman Farms, where Tyler's sweet sling shot skills won our family 2 gallons of fresh pressed apple cider ~ YUM! I did an Alphabet Photography Challenge. Jay painted our living room and entry way and did a fabulous job! We carved pumpkins, Katie primped, styled and transformed Anna into Taylor Swift and I convinced (i.e. begged and pleaded) Jay to dress as Edward while I dressed as a crazy, yet loveable number one Twilight fan, and thanks to Stephanie, Rachel had one amazing Quidditch robe!
November ~ This month brought school conferences, a fun visit with Anna and Rachel to OMSI, the NEW MOON midnight premiere with Laura, Stephanie, Sarah, Anna's teacher Jessica Morgan and her daughter, and a bunch of Stephanie's friends. We had fun performing HUMAN for the captive audience. We got to watch Twilight while we waited and had a lot of fun laughing with an audience who laughed at the same scenes we think are cheesey. Katie recieved a National Merit Commendation award for scoring in the top 5% of the nation on the PSAT and was featured in the Saxon newsletter. We are so proud of her! We also celebrated Thanksgiving with just ourselves, which has never happened in all the time we've been married. It was relaxing and low-key.
December ~ This was a busy month, as it usually is for everyone. Add a birthday and an anniversary on top of the holiday chaos and you have the recipe for one crazy but super fun month! We started the Christmas season off by attending the tree lighting in Riverfront park. We had never done this before and found it to be a great activity, not to mention the delicious and FREE hot chocolate donated by Roths. Katie and Tyler found possibly the best Christmas tree we've ever had at our family tree hunt. We attended the Holiday Parade of Lights downtown Salem with the Stearns and Laura, Landon and Lach. We enjoyed watching the parade, especially the longboarders! I had my December piano recital with all of my students who did a fabulous job showcasing their talents and skills. Katie submitted her first college application.....sniff. My parents came down for the holiday festivities, arriving on the 22nd in time to celebrate Anna's 10th birthday on the 23rd. Christmas was very fun! And Jay and I celebrated our 19th anniversary on the 27th. Whew....told you it was a packed month!
Here's looking forward to 2010 ~
What a great review of a great year! I loved seeing all the wonderful pictures, too. Don't you love digital photos? Best thing ever!
ReplyDeleteI do love digital photos!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great year! Great recap. love that 3 of the months had twilight related things.... :-)
ReplyDeleteMy favorite line is:
ReplyDeleteHey ~ it's not obsessed to celebrate the birthday of a fictional character!!!
What a great year you had! I'm SOOOO glad that we were able to share so many experiences last year together!! We have so much fun with you and your family. And no wonder, we're family! :-) I still think that is so funny and SO cool!
I wish I would have thought to recap every year of my life, it would have made me feel like I was so much more productive than I thought I was at the time! I think these posts are very eye opening to how blessed we all are. I love it!
GREAT post! I loved reading it.
I'm exhausted just reading about it. I felt the same when I read Laura's. Very cool though to recap the year - including photo's. I hope 2010 is just as wonderful for the Despains!
ReplyDeleteI was exhausted thinking about it too ~ thank goodness we live it day by day instead of collectively! It'd be way too overwhelming otherwise!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun year. It's amazing how much you do in a year and don't really realize it until it's on paper. Fun!!
ReplyDeleteI agree! Like Laura said, I also wish I'd have done this on other years.
ReplyDelete